Justice in Platos Republic and Hobbes Leviathan Essay -- Politics Phi

One of the main concepts in both Plato's Republic and Hobbes' Leviathan is justice. For Plato, the goal of his Republic is to discover what justice is and to demonstrate that it is better than injustice. Plato does this by explaining justice in two different ways: through a city or polis and through an individual human beings soul. He uses justice in a city to reveal justice in an individual. For Hobbes, the term justice is used to explain the relationship between morality and self-interest. Hobbes explains justice in relation to obligations and self-preservation. This essay will analyze justice specifically in relation to the statement ? The fool hath said in his heart, there is no such thing as justice? Looking at Hobbes? reply to the fool will demonstrate that his main goal was to declare what people ought to do when interacting with others and what can be expected in return for that behaviour. By analyzing the Republic, it will be shown that Plato would most likely differ w ith the statement made by the fool because the main of premise the book in itself is to discover the definition of justice. To understand Hobbes? reply to the fool, one must first define justice according to Hobbes. He believes that justice is men performing their covenants made and the constant will of giving every man his own. A covenant is a part of a contract, or ?mutual transferring of right, in which at least one of the parties ?is to perform in time to come?. Hobbes maintains that it is never against reason to complete a covenant when man has the security that others will also perform covenants made with him. However, the problem that arises from forming covenants is that just because people enter into a covenant to perform some actio... ...ing so he also showed that there is such a thing a justice within a city as well as in an individual. Thus, Plato?s reply to the fool would be that indeed there is such a thing as justice. And justice is good because it benefits in this life as well as the next. Therefore, even though a man may wish to behave unjustly when he can, as with the myth of the ring of Gyges, behaving justly will have the most rewards. Both Plato and Hobbes present different views of justice in reply to the fool. Plato, claiming one should be just because it is good in itself, where as Hobbes claims being just is good for the pursuit of self-interest or preservation. Despite the difference of opinion on justice between the two philosophers, it is clear that the fool?s statement has been refuted. For there is such a thing as justice despite the differences in how the term is defined.

World War II Essay -- History, War

World War II brought peace and economic prosperity to the Allied nations, which allowed for the fertility rate in North America to increase. This caused an explosion in the population of the U.S. especially, with around 78 million babies born by the end of the 1940s-1960s, according to Colombia Dictionary. Similarly, Canada experienced a surge of 479,000 babies following the 1950s (Henripin, Krotki 1). A large population amounts to a shift in demographics, and subsequently the social system of North America started to change gradually in order to adapt to the new baby boom generation. As a result of a new economic affluence in the continent, North American society became materialistic and consumerism seized a big part of the economy (Owram 309). Children became an important demographic for companies, leading to the toy industry benefitting and expanding (Gillion 5). Technology advanced considerably, too: in the 1950s, the television became a ground-breaking medium that helped people spread ideas, see what was going on in their country and the rest of the world, much like what the printing press did for the Renaissance. Although the post-WWII baby boom only occurred in a few countries, namely the U.S. and Canada, this time period transformed the West and the world immensely—the areas of life that were affected during the baby boom went on to greatly influence later generations and decades due to the change and reform it yielded, which replaced the outdated and unethical traditions of the old West and the world. Prevailing social and political attitudes of the baby boom were much more liberal than they were in the pre-war decades. Numerous social issues found their way into the spotlight, such as women's rights and the sexual rev... ...ame needs as an effect of consumerism on the baby boom generation. The same materialism of the 1950s conceived a new consciousness in the 1960s, equating to new values for the baby boom generation, such as self-actualization, social consciousness and tolerance. During the 1950s, the U.S. achieved the highest standard of living in the world, metamorphosing the working class into the new middle class (Monhollon xvi). The richest generation in North American history and the 21st century has left behind a plethora of valuable lessons that will not be forgotten soon. In conclusion, the baby boom, which lead to a long cycle of prosperity and growth in the post-WWII years is crucial because it redefined the traditional and rigid values people wrongfully harbored in the past and spearheaded dramatic change on a global level, bringing the West and the World closer than ever.

Dantes Inferno in Comparison to Christianity and The Media Essay

Dantes Inferno in Comparison to Christianity and The Media Dante's Inferno is a strange journey through hell, which at times seems familiar but then sometimes seems unexpected. As an American and a Christian it is possible to think that my opinion on this could be crafted from my religion and our society, particularly its media. In my mind I see hell as this place of immense torment bestowed on sinners. My faith has taught me that those who sin go to hell to be punished. Dante's adventure clearly shows that the souls of hell are punished, as I thought. Punishments range from living in filth to painful tortures. What my religion or any movies or television shows I've seen mentioned is the idea of a hierarchy. The idea of hell being made up of circles that descend based on sin. While this idea makes sense, I have never been exposed to that thought, so it a little surprising, but also interesting. My view of hell was this burning hole where all the souls of sinners kind of dwell together. I basically felt that a sin is a sin, this is probably because it was instil...

Daniel hade

Shaina Gilbert Prof. Conway English 101 November 26, 2013 It is an obligation since elementary for children to learn about the U. S. history.However, some historical books feed our children and society inaccurate stories to cover some lies that our prideful country, the United States of America is hiding from To paraphrase, Hade talks about The American Girl Collections how the stories in those books are so inaccurate that the United States tends to hide the issues, or to focus less on the consequences of some issues as a result for our children to grow up ith the belief that the United Sates is this perfect and progressing country, where the United States always have a happy ending (563-572).Related to Hade's approach of inaccurate stories, the conspiracy of Martin Luther Kings death falls into the same category. Our history book always taught us that Martin's assassination was done by a lone gunman called James Earl Ray. However along the line, cases and investigations have proven that Martin Luther's death was all a conspiracy involving the FBI, military, CIA plotting against civil rights leaders. The government and media anage to cover up by providing the public misinformation to protect the pride of the United States, that the U.S. would never have such corrupted agencies, that USA should always be the best, the example of many (Halyard). We all knew that it was never about a racist gunman, there was more to the situation but again the government partially revealed the information, for the purpose of how people will look at the United States and it is the same point as Hade said about his article that our children are taught lies and even adults had to grow up with those lies for the protection of the US's reputation.He argues that â€Å"the books are too busy telling the students how great the United States was and still is to give them much real history'(Hade 568). It is true, we all know that books will never admit that we were wrong for some part, on the contrary books will brush off the real issues or the real story of the issue to present the United States as being on the right side and doing the best of all. Martin Luther's death until this day is still not fully revealed to the public and will never for the sake of the prideful fgure that United States have. Quoted by Hade, â€Å"These books†¦ ems to connect with the ultimate American goal† (572), and he is right we have given stuff that only they decided we should know to protect the American goal.

Industrialization and the Rise of Big Business Essay

From the period of 1870 to 1900, the United States became one of the world’s strongest and growing industrial nations. An industrial revolution that had begun with the manufacture of cotton and woolen textiles had, by the beginning of the 20th, transformed the production of most everyday goods. Ranging from food, clothing, appliances, and automobiles, the enormous output of industrial production led to the rise of big business as it coordinated methods of distribution and sales to forge an infrastructure for consumer culture. The rise of corporations, such as Carnegie Steel, J.P. Morgan, and Standard Oil, in the late 1800’s, was able to dramatically shape the country politically, socially, and economically and even continues to do so today through new modern finance and monopolies. Industrial growth was mainly fueled by a surplus in resources, immigration and therefore cheap labor, and major technological advances that expanded the capabilities of various industries. As technological advances transformed production and distribution, a wave of inventions, including the typewriter, light bulb, and automobile led into new industries. Through this boom in business, leaders learned how to operate many different financial activities throughout the nation. Ultimately, they were able to become larger and the modern corporation was â€Å"born† into one of the most important roles in the future of business. These corporations seemed â€Å"new† for many people in the country, but corporations actually date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, where they were used by royalty and governments to organize exploration and possible colonization. Many businessmen and politicians had been suspicious of the corporation from the time it first emerged in the late 16th century. Unlike the partnership form of business, which dealt with a small amount of people on a personal level, the corporation separated ownership from management. In Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, he warns that because managers could not be trusted to steward â€Å"other people’s money†, â€Å"negligence and profusion† would eventually result when businesses organized as corporations. In 1811, New York became the first state that passed legislation concerning protocol and procedure for becoming a corporation, and other states eventually adapted this as well. Corporations were well suited to meet the demands of the Industrial Revolution, which generated a giant increase in business opportunities which, in hand, required massive amounts of money but â€Å"over the last 150 years the corporation has risen from relative obscurity to become the world’s dominant economic institution† (Bakan 5). â€Å"The genius of the corporation as a business form, and the reason for its remarkable rise over the last three centuries, was-and is-its capacity to combine the capital, and thus the economic power, of unlimited numbers of people† (Bakan 9). As corporations become more powerful and fuel development of large-scale industry, they affect politics. The men idolized by some and vilified by other, America’s 19th century Robber Barons were the true creators of the modern corporate era. The railroad was the first major monopoly in the United States. Since these railroads were massive undertakings, they required millions of dollars in capital investment. This was more than could be provided by relatively small group of wealthy men who invested in corporations at the turn of the century and the majority of the money was raised through the sales of stocks and bonds. With greed and corruption heavily present throughout the construction of the railroads, beginning in the 1890s, the corporation underwent a major transformation. The states of New Jersey and Delaware sought to attract valuable incorporation business to their jurisdictions by jettisoning unpopular restrictions from their corporate laws. In addition, they also repealed the rules that required businesses to incorporate only for defined purposes, to exist only for limited durations, and to only operate in certain locations. Another move consisted of loosening control on merger and acquisitions and they abolished the rule that one company could not own stock in another. Soon the rest of the country, not wanting to lose out in the competition for the incorporation business, soon followed their examples with revisions to their own laws. With flexible freedoms and powers now available, there was a large amount of incorporations by businesses. However, with all the constraints on mergers and acquisitions gone, it was only a matter of time before companies bought each other out. â€Å"1,800 corporations were consolidated into 157 between 1898 and 1904. In less than a decade the U.S. economy had been transformed from one in which individually owned enterprises competed freely among themselves into one dominated by a relatively few huge corporations, each owned by many shareholders† (Bakan 14). The era of corporate capitalism had begun with all those consolidations and mergers. With the economy dominated by a few huge corporations, we find ourselves looking at the development of monopolies, development the states started by limiting the set laws. With the growing capitalism pressuring politicians, a bizarre law was passed by the Supreme Court in 1886. â€Å"The courts had fully transformed the corporation into a â€Å"person†, complete with its own identity, separate from the actual people who were its owners and managers, like a real person, to conduct business in its own name, acquire assets, employ workers, pay taxes, and go to court. The logic of this law conceived if corporations were considered free individuals, or â€Å"persons†, corporations should be protected by the Fourteenth Amendment’s right to due process of law and equal protection of the laws, rights originally added to the constitution to protect freed slaves† (Hobsbawm 208). Trusts were becoming a problem after several years of abuse by major corporations. By the end of the 19th century, trusts used to crush competition and create monopolies throughout different industries had gotten to a point where the public demanded that there be something done. Congress ended up passing the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890. This Act has two main prov isions which apply to most of the corporations of the time. Every contract or agreement, in the form of a trust or not, or conspiracy to restraint trade in commerce is illegal and second, it would be illegal for anyone to monopolize, try to monopolize, or conspire to monopolize commerce. The Sherman Act was just the first of a series of laws aimed at controlling attempts by business firms to conspire and establish monopoly power in industry and commerce. Other acts followed when it became apparent that the Sherman Act had loopholes. Teddy Roosevelt was known as the â€Å"trust buster† because of his anti-monopoly views. Many large corporations had complete control of an entire industry and Roosevelt went in to these companies and helped to stop this type of monopoly, even managing to break up Northern Securities and J.P. Morgan. A big supporter of labor, he set up child protection laws, which were used to prevent children to work in factories and set up workman compensation, which is a payment that employers had to pay employees who ge t injured on the job. After the Great Depression occurred sometime around 1929 until the early 1940s, Roosevelt stepped in and called for Congress to help him pass his â€Å"New Deal†. â€Å"The â€Å"New Deal† was a package of regulatory reforms designed to restore economic health by, among other things, crushing the powers and freedoms of corporations† (Bakan 20). On March 9 Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act, which allowed the federal banks to be inspected. They also passed the Glass-Steagall Act, which had stringent rules for banks and provided insurance for depositors through the newly created Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Two more acts in 1933 and 1934, mandated specific regulations for the securities market, enforced by the new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several bills provided mortgage relief for farmers and homeowners and offered loans for home purchasers through. Also, the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 gave federal protection in the bargaining process for workers and established a set of fair employment standards. The National Labor Relations Act guaranteed workers the right to organize and bargain through unions and the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the last major program launched by Roosevelt specified maximum hours and minimum wages for most categories of workers. A monopoly is considered an economic situation in which only a single seller or producer supplies a commodity or a service. Economic monopolies have existed throughout most of history and in modern times we still deal with their continued threat. We usually encounter monopolies when giant business firms began to emerge and dominate the economy. Usually more than one firm in the same industry grows and dominates the market resulting in oligopoly, in which the market is dominated by a few firms. A modern example is Microsoft, which was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. In 1985, Microsoft released the Windows OS, an OS with the same features of MS- DOS just with a graphical user interface added for ease of use. Windows 2.0, released in 1987, improved performance and offered a new visual appearance. In 1990 Microsoft released a more powerful version, Windows 3.0. These versions, which came preinstalled on most new personal computers, becoming the most widely used operating systems in the industry at the time. In 1993 Apple lost a copyright-infringement lawsuit against Microsoft that claimed Window s illegally copied the design of the Macintosh’s operating system. In May 1998, the Justice Department and 20 states filed broad anti-trust suits charging Microsoft with engaging in â€Å"monopolistic† conduct. They wanted to force Microsoft to offer Windows without Internet Explorer or to include Navigator, a competing browser made by Netscape. In November 2001 Microsoft announced a settlement with the Justice Department and nine of the states. Key provisions included requiring Microsoft to reveal technical information about the Windows operating system to competitors so that software applications could be compatible with Windows, while also enabling personal computer manufacturers to hide icons for activating Microsoft software applications. A computer manufacturer could therefore remove access to Internet Explorer and enable another Internet browser to be displayed on the desktop. Corporations transformed the U.S. economy through breakthroughs in technology as well as new business practices and strategies. â€Å"The early Industrial Revolution not only changed manufacturing technically but also introduced a new organization of industry. These innovations followed from the new machinery but had advantages of their own. Together, these changes constitute its economic impact† (Stearns). Americans created giant enterprises. Businesses such as Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel brought together huge stocks of natural resources and unprecedented quantities of modern machinery to mass-produce goods for domestic and international markets. In meeting these demands, American entrepreneurs pioneered the development of modern business with its large-scale production and widespread markets, first by developing the railroad industry and then by creating industrial corporations. These railroads were massive undertakings, they required millions of dollars in capital investment. This was more than could be provided by relatively small group of wealthy men who invested in corporations at the turn of the century and the majority of the money was raised through the sales of stocks and bonds. â€Å"Everything the stock market is, and was, rooted in the basic idea of capitalism. Without that idea, stocks and bonds would never have come to be. Capitalism is an â€Å"economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market† (Hobsbawn 48). In the steel industry, Carnegie developed a system known as vertical integration. Carnegie bought his own iron and coal mines because using independent companies cost too much and was inefficient. Through this method he was able to charge less than any of his competitors. Unlike Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller integrated his oil business into horizontal. He followed one product through all its stages. Although, Carnegie inclined to be tough-fisted in business, he was not a monopolist and disliked monopolistic trusts. John D. Rockefeller came to dominate the oil industry. He created the first U.S. trust in 1882 by persuading the stockholders of the 40 companies associated with his to turn over their common stock to nine trustees in exchange for trust certificates. However, in 1911, the Supreme Court found that unlawful monopoly power existed in his company ordered him to dissolve it into smaller, competing companies. The development of trusts coincided with industrialization in the U.S. The trust movement was both a way to create large-scale business firms in this period and a downfall of the tremendous growth of industry. The success of the Standard Oil Company and U.S. Steel company was credited to the fact that their owners ran them with great authority. In this very competitive era, many new businesses were being formed and it took talented management to get ahead and have the companies running smoothly while making a great deal of money. As corporations expanded they affected the social outlook of the nation and brought social changes fueled by the Industrial Revolution. â€Å"In the wake of the twentieth- century merger movement, many Americans realized that corporations, now huge behemoths, threatened to overwhelm their social institutions and governments† (Bakan 17). Many people believed that corporate greed and mismanagement had caused the Great Depression. In response, business leaders embraced corporate social responsibility, believing that it was the best strategy to restore people’s faith in corporations. â€Å"New Capitalism† was the term that was used to describe the trend that softened corporations’ images with promises of good corporate citizenship and better working conditions. â€Å"By the end of WWI, some of America’s leading corporations, among them, General Electric, Eastman Kodak, National cash register, Standard Oil, and US Rubber, were busy crafting images of themselves as benevolent and socially responsible† (Bakan 18). As economic activities in many communities moved from agriculture to manufacturing, production shifted from its traditional locations in the home and the small workshop to larger and more capable factories. A great amount of the population relocated from the countryside to the towns and cities where manufacturing centers were found. The overall amount of goods and services produced expanded dramatically, and the proportion of capital invested per worker grew. Industrialization gradually changed the nature of human life for many people. For the first time in American history, more than half the country’s population lived in cities. In Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, he states that the most decisive mark of the prosperity of any country is the increase of the number of its inhabitants. On average, the population doubles in England and most other European countries around every 500 years. In America, the population doubles in about 25 years. With continued expansion of industrialization, America moves forward and advances with greater rapidity to the further acquisition of riches than any other countries. Key changes revolved around families as well, with work now farther from home, new specializations are required among some. While some women would be withdrawn from the formal labor force in order to supply domestic labor, and children were sent to school instead of being used in early industry. Outside the home, industrialization created new and unpleasant social divisions. The gap between the factory owners and the growing number of workers widened. New forms of protest, including strikes and political action developed alongside the advancement of industrialization. For years they had working long days on the farms, it’s the nature of the work that was biggest issue. Factory work tended to be monotonous and made work more dangerous. While on the farm, in the midst of the hard work, there was socializing and irregularity for the workers. Once in the shop, the workers had to deal with strict time schedules, and harsh working conditions. While wages were often low in the early years of industrialization, they ultimately improved, creating new opportunities for consumption. A small number of workers could also rise to become more highly skilled, even entering the ranks of supervisors. More substantial advancement, however, was rare. Most workers ultimately reduced their reliance on job satisfaction and sought shorter hours and higher pay instead. But life off the job did not necessarily improve rapidly. Working-class families might be tightly knit, but new tensions appeared. Many workers vented their frustrations on other family members and leisure life initially deteriorated with industrialization. Carnegie Steel, J.P. Morgan, and Standard Oil, are just some of the many corporations that rose in the late 1800’s, and were able to dramatically shape the country politically, socially, and economically and even continues to do so today. Without them, America would not be the world superpower that it currently is. The shift from and agricultural society into an industrial one may have been difficult for who lived during that era. However, by the turn of the century, industrialization had transformed commerce, business organization, the, the workplace, technology and general everyday life in America into something solid and positively profound. Now we face the challenge of deciding whether to leave the market to itself or to have the government regulate or control it. I believe that government control won’t amount to anything because of all the extra work needed. If the market was left to itself then corporations may take advantage of certain elements and monopolies may dominate the market. This best compromise would be for the government to regulate the market in a way that corporations are forced to do legitimate and legal business.

Important Choice in of Mice and Men

Choices are made by everyone at some point in life. Choices can be complicated or as simple as yes or no. Decisions can be difficult or easy to make. Some choices are impulsive while some require a lot of premeditation to make. In the novella, Of Mice and Men, written by George Steinbeck, George chose to kill his best friend Lennie. Lennie and George were friends for a long time. They both worked at a farm together. Lennie was retarded and George took care of him and watched over him. Throughout the book Lennie displays blind loyalty to George and their hope of a better life.George is a very dynamic character through the book while Lennie is constant displaying incredible amounts of physical strength and being dim witted. Killing Lennie was no easy task for George. This important choice was a choice that affected others, affected George, and had to be motivated to be made. George was motivated to kill his friend, Lennie. Lennie had always loved to pet soft things. He would often kill mice just by petting them. Lennie had also killed a puppy on accident. These incidents occurred out of his innocence.He was unaware of his own strength and killed animals because of it. Lennie killed Curley’s wife in an effort to simply pet her soft hair. A mob of people from the farm chased Lennie and George from the farm in an effort to kill Lennie. Curley said he wanted to kill Lennie in the most painful way possible. George and Lennie effectively escaped their pursuit for a brief minute. In this moment George tried to calm Lennie down by reminding him of their shared dream of a better life. This involved them owning their own farm and tending rabbits for Lennie to pet.This undoubtedly brought Lennie to a calm place. In that moment when people began to close in, George killed Lennie by shooting him in the back of the head. This act was influenced by the impending doom Lennie had coming. The other men from the farm that had chased Lennie would have killed him much less pea cefully. If George did not do it, Curley would have done it much less humanely. While this reason for killing Lennie may seem to be merciful, what if George had killed him for selfish gain? George was held back by Lennie as long as he had been accompanying him.This was not the first time they had gotten in trouble with the law. Lennie also kept George from getting any type of romantic relationship or even a stable job. Is it possible George was motivated by his own selfish inclinations? Several factors influenced George to kill Lennie. George’s choice to kill Lennie was motivated by others but also affected him. It is reasonable to believe that George looked out for both Lennie and his own interest in deciding what how he must confront the situation mentioned earlier. Killing Lennie affected George’s life in depth.In the entire book George and Lennie are depicted as being together. George would have to adjust to being slightly more lonesome for the time being. Lennie w as a companion to George but he was also a hindrance. George had said how Lennie keeps him from doing many things. George was upset at this and said â€Å"If I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want. Why, I could stay in a cathouse all night.I could eat any place I want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of. An’ I could do all that every damn month. Get a gallon of whisky, or set in a pool room and play cards or shoot pool. † Lennie knelt and looked over the fire at the angry George. And Lennie’s face was drawn in with terror. â€Å"An’ whatta I got,† George went on furiously. â€Å"I got you! You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shovin’ all over the country all the time. † Here George act s as if he doesn’t want Lennie so it would be natural to assume that with Lennie dead George would be happy.On the contrary George is disappointed at the loss of his friend as he does not want to live an isolationist life like the other members of the ranch. The choice George made affected him negatively from his own viewpoint but also allowed him to live a less tethered lifestyle. The adverse effects of this choice affected George the most. In addition to having affected George, this choice also affected others in the ranch. Lennie was the one most affected. Obviously Lennie died because of George's decision to kill him. What could have happened had an alternate ending taken place?Instead of killing Lennie, George could have escaped and found other work. This scenario was spelled out in the beginning of the book when it says how the duo had left a ranch in Weed for undisclosed reasons. There is no reason why Lennie could have been spared in this fashion. Perhaps George reali zed the cycle that could have proceeded where they escape to another ranch only to find Lennie falls into the same pattern where they end up repeating the same steps over and over. In that case George's decision was still the right one. Lennie did not understand what death was in its full sense.When he killed animals he did not care they were dead but wanted them for comfort. In the same way George killed Lennie while he was in a comforted state. Lennie most likely wanted it that way. When Lennie was killed, their dream of the ranch was also killed. This deeply hurt those like Candy and Crooks who emotionally invested in this dream that had become theirs as well. Candy insisted that George goes ahead and buys a farm anyway. The represented freedom and lack of prejudice for Candy and Crooks. When the idea was gone, they were very upset as their dreams of a better life did the same.George's decision to kill Lennie affected others as well as him. The important choice to kill Lennie was a choice that was motivated by others, affected George and affected others. The decision was motivated by Curley’s desire for revenge. George will be forced to live an isolationist life just like the other members of the ranch in the Great Depression. Crooks and Candy’s dream of an improved life was crushed with George’s choice. Everyone has to make important choices in their life and they will usually be for the better and the worse.

Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface

Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 1/12 http://ojni. org/602/usability. htm Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface by Karen D. King, RDH, MHeD and Dr. Rosalee Seymour, Associate Professor, EdD, RN Abstract This report presents the results of a usability evaluation of the Web design interfac e for an instructional unit prototype on Herpes Simplex and Apthous Ulcers. Usability is defin ed as the measure of a product’s potential to accomplish the goals of its users (Dumas, 1999). The unit and the Web interface were designed to deliver instruction to undergraduate dental hygien e students.The three randomly selected users/subjects for this evaluation were from an undergrad uate class of dental hygiene students. This report describes the usability evaluation planning, im plementation, data analysis methods, and results. The results demonstrate that conducting usabilit y evaluations help to determine the organization and ease of navigation of an interactive, Web- base d, instructional unit. Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface Computers are used to educate, in many instances, with conventional interfaces that i nclude those used to create documents and manipulate data.A Web interface, which was tested in t his case, is very different from a conventional one. The Web is a domain that must be instantly u sable and support many communication modalities. Web designers must focus on the computer user whose goal is to gather information rather than to create documents or manipulate data (Raj ani & Rosenberg, 1999). It is critical that the accomplishment of the users’ goals be the primary objective o f a usability evaluation (UE) of Web site interface design.Users will not be able to access correc t pages unless the constructed site reflects their needs and contains a navigation scheme that allow s easy access to the desired information (Nielsen, 2000a). In Web interface designs the properties of color, sound, navigation, and place ment must be considered from a different perspective than with c onventional interfaces. Usability evaluation purposes. The faculty of the Department of Dental Hygiene, where this evaluation was conducted developed an oral pathology course for undergraduate student s in dental hygiene and wanted to deliver it via a Web design interface.The instructional unit o n Herpes Simplex and Apthous Ulcers is the prototype for nine instructional units to follow. It was anticipated that conducting a UE, on the prototype instructional unit Web interface, would enable identification of any usability issues or problems relevant to this Web interface before the constru ction of subsequent instructional units. In keeping with Rajani and Rosenberg (1999), the primary purposes of this UE were agr eed upon as: 1) to determine if the Web-based Herpes Simplex and Apthous ulcer prototype is easy t o navigate 13/3/2013 0:50Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 2/12 http://ojni. org/602/usability. htm and meets the goals of undergraduate dental hygiene students, 2) to use any identifie d problems to revise this unit, 3) to make recommendations on the construction of additional units based on this prototype, 4) to save faculty time, and 5) to insure students’ goals will be met in t he Web interface format. The Literature Usability evaluations include a range of methods for identifying how users actually i nteract with a prototype or completed Web site. Planning of a UE egins with a statement of the ove rall purpose and objectives for the investigation and a clear identification of the problem (Hom, 1999; Instone, 1999). In a typical approach a UE is conducted while users perform tasks and a modera tor watches, listens, and records for later data analyzes and reporting of results (Fichter, 2000) . The next steps are the identification of the subject/users and the design of the study. Graham (2000) describes many ways to get feedback about the usability of a Web site. Gra ham (2000) recommends that a moderator observe a user representing the site’s target audi ence as they navigate the site.Graham (2000) cautions moderators against the interruption of the subject/user while conducting any observations. Nielsen (2000a) also recommends that the user/subj ects be representative of the target audience and not colleagues or others who may know too m uch about the site. Nielsen (2000a) recommends that user/subjects perform specific tasks durin g a UE as opposed to asking them to just play on the test site. These test tasks need to be re presentative of the types of tasks that users will actually perform on the Web site within the Web in terface being tested.Nielsen (2000a) suggests that the moderator solicit comments from users as they progr ess through to task completion to help determine their thought process. Hom (2000) refers to thi s encouragement of user comments during the evaluation as the ‘think aloud protocol’. H om (2000) des cribes this technique as one in which the user verbalizes any thoughts, feelings, and/or opinions while interacting with the test site. The inclusion of the ‘think aloud protocol’ all ows the moderator to qualitatively measure how the user approaches the Web interface and what consideratio ns they keep in mind when using it.For example, a user verbalizing that the sequence of steps, d ictated by a task, is different from what was expected, could demonstrate an interface problem (Ho m, 2000). Hom (2000) recommends using the qualitative ‘think aloud method’ in conjunction with performance measures. The performance measures add to the data collected noting such things as: 1 ) the time it takes for a user to complete a task, 2) the number and type of errors per task, 3) the number of users completing a task successfully, and 4) the satisfaction of the user with the si te (Nielsen, 2000a).After determining the study design and identification of the users, Spool et al. (199 9) in agreement with Nielsen recommend development of specific tasks for users to perform during the UE. In addition to a task list, Hom (1999) advocates during the planning phase of UE that on e specify materials needed and the site evaluation environment. Rubin (1994) agrees that the U E process needs test users from the target population to evaluate the degree to which a product meets specific 13/3/2013 0:50 Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface /12 http://ojni. org/602/usability. htm criteria. Rubin (1994) describes six basic elements of a UE: 1) a clear statement of the problem and/or evaluation objectives, 2) a sample of users, which may/may not be randomly cho sen, 3) a setting representative of the actual work environment, 4) observation of users who either use or review a representation of the product, 5) a collection of quantitative performance and qualitative preferences measures, and 6) an analysis leading to recommendation for design of the product evaluated.When analyzing data from having conducted a UE, rather than supporting hypotheses one is looking for patterns to identify common problems, in the remarks or observations, between use rs (Dumas, 1999; Hom, 1999). Performance data is statistically analyzed while qualitative data, collected by observing the user’s actions and opinions, is analyzed for trends. The data analysis results should lead to identification of strengths and recommendations for improving the site or pro duct (Nielsen, 2000a; Spool, et al. 1999; Hom, 1999; Dumas, 1999). Usability Evaluation: The Case This UE was conducted because usability problems, within any prototype, are important to discover prior to the costly, time consuming, construction of a web interface for additional i nstructional units. The specific purpose of this UE was to determine if the Web interface presented the H erpes Simplex and Apthous Ulcer prototype interactive educational unit in a way that allowed underg raduate dental hygiene students to successfully achieve unit outcomes.Specific objectives for this usability evaluation were to determine: 1) navigational and/or organizational problems with the Web interface, 2) the presence of any confusing term inology in the site, 3) if the site meets the goals of the user, 4) if the users can complete the as signed tasks, and 5) user’s attitudes toward the Web site. Methods A description of the UE environment, user selection criteria and profiles, usability evaluation process, the task list, and evaluation measures for this study follow. Usability evaluation environment. The UE took place in the moderator’s private campus office.This is a quiet, well-lit room with a comfortable temperature, equipped with a Dell computer workstation, which was used for the evaluation. A sign reading â€Å"Usability Evaluation in Session. Please Do Not Disturb† was posted on the closed office door to prevent interruptions and distractio ns. The UEs were co nducted on July 2, 2001, at 1:00 p. m. , 2:00 p. m. , and 3:00 p. m. Subject/users interacted with the Herpes Simplex and Apthous Ulcers Web interface one at a time. Each subject /user had 20 minutes to complete the usability evaluation. Subjectuser selection and profile.Three randomly selected undergraduate dental hygi ene students, from a target population of 24 (class of 2002), became subjectusers. All 24 students will be required to take the oral pathology courses including the instructional units reflect ing the results of this UE. Alphabetical order by user’s last name determined the order of subjectuser participation. In order to be selected the subject/users must have met the following criteria: 1) be an undergraduate 13/3/2013 0:50 Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 4/12 http://ojni. org/602/usability. htm ental hygiene student, 2) have successfully completed one academic year of the Denta l Hygiene Program, 3) have previous experience with the Internet, and 4) have previous experien ce with Web browsers The demographic characteristics of the users for this evaluation were that: 1) they all were female, 2) ages 25, 22, and 43, 3) all had successfully completed on e academic year in the Dental Hygiene Program, 4) all had previous experience with the Internet, and 5) all had between 1 and 3 years experience with Web browsers. Administration protocol. Prior to the UE a training packet and session of 30 minutes were provided to each subjectuser.The training session included a brief description of the UE proce ss, purpose and objectives, and the UE protocol instructions. Each subject/user was given an opportun ity to review the packet and ask any questions before agreeing, by signing a consent form, to be a voluntary participant. The UE packet included: 1) a user profile questionnaire, 2) a task list , 3) a statement of the purposes of the evaluation, 4) evaluation instructions, and 5) a consent form. Prior to each actual UE every subjec tuser was again given a 10-minute review of the UE instructions and opportunity to ask questions.Subjects/users were told it would take one hour to complete the entire UE process; 20 minutes to complete the task list. According to Nielsen (2000a) , a UE time of 30 minutes or less is adequate to conduct a UE. An additional 15 minutes allowed time for the user to verbalize about the Web interface and to complete a follow up questionnaire to de termine their attitude towards the Web interface. The remaining 15 minutes of the hour the moderat or used to review notes of comments and observations and to make corrections so that no misunder standing would occur later in interpreting results.Shneiderman (1998) suggests the moderator rewrite UE notes as soon as possible, reducing moderator errors in note interpretation later. The subjectusers were required to use the’ think aloud method’ (Hom, 2000) to provid e subjective data in conjunction with the collection of various perfo rmance measures. The performa nce measures included: 1) the time it took the user to complete the task list; 2) the number of er rors per task, 3) the number of users completing the task list successfully in the allotted time, and 4 ) the attitude of the user toward the Web interface.In addition, the moderator collected qualitative data by observing each user during completion of each task and taking notes regarding their f acial expressions, opinions expressed, and verbalized thoughts while completing UE. The mo derator made notes on the opinions and thoughts of the user following UE. Finally, the subje ctusers completed a questionnaire to describe their attitudes about the Web interface. Implementation Piloting the UE administration protocol.A Department of Dental Hygiene professor, fa miliar with the Internet, Web browsers, and oral pathology pilot tested the UE administration protoco l one week prior to testing subjectusers. The moderator provided the pilot test user with the s ame pre UE instructions and task list that would be given to subject/users. The pilot test resul ted in no problems with the UE administration protocol. The moderator observed the pilot test subject/us er and collected the same quantitative and qualitative data that was to be collected from th e research 13/3/2013 0:50 Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 5/12 http://ojni. rg/602/usability. htm subjectusers. The results of the pilot test showed that the UE protocol could be use d with subject/users without revision. Pre-training for UE. At 12:30 p. m. July 2, 2001, the subjectusers arrived for the pr e UE training session. The moderator distributed the UE packet and described the purpose and proce dures of the UE. The users were given an opportunity to review the UE packet and to ask questions . Each of the three subjectusers signed consent forms before leaving the pre UE training. Administration of UE. Each of the three subject/users arrived at the moderator’s offi ce for the UE.The moderator reviewed the evaluation instructions and gave time for any additional q uestions to be answered. The following sequence of events occurred for the three users, each: a) beg an the UE , 2) completed the task list, 3) responded to questions about the evaluation experience, 4 ) added thoughts or opinions regarding interaction with the Web interface, and 5) left the mo derator’s office in 45 minutes each. The administrator used the remaining 15 minutes of each of the t hree hours to rewrite portions of notes taken during observation in preparation for the UE report o f results.Task list and description. The tasks were identified using the purposes and objective s of the UE. The task list includes 10 primary tasks for subjectusers to perform in navigation of the Website interface for the Oral Herpes Simplex and Apthous Ulcers prototype. The task list beginning wi th accessing the Website via the interface and progressing through the instructional unit follows. Because many of the 10 primary tasks were repeated the actual count of performing tasks is 31. Task 1 – with the browser open go to www. etsu. edu/cpah/dental/dcte760.This task was chosen to determine if users, indicating they had between 1 and 3 years experience with a Web b rowser, would have a problem accessing a Web site when given only a Web address without a dir ect link. Task 2 – read the instructions on the first page of the Web site and click on the lin k that it directs you to go to first. This task was to determine the clarity of the Web interface in p roviding instructions for beginning the instructional unit. Task 3 – click on Assignment 1 Task 4 – access the discussion forum and enter your name and email address.This task helped determine the Web interface design, by allowing for observing if users had difficulty locating the discussion forum area and/or entering information into it. Task 5 – When done in discussion forum, re turn to Assignment 1. This task will ident ify if users have difficulty returning to the designated page using the Web interface. Task 6 – Click on Assignment 2 Task 7 – Read the content on Apthous Ulcers. This task requires users to read content on a Web page on the site. Task 8 – Click on the images on this page to enlarge them. This task determines the e ase of click navigation to enlarge thumbnail images. 3/3/2013 0:50 Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 6/12 http://ojni. org/602/usability. htm Task 9 – Return to Assignment 2. This task determined if users could navigate the We b interface via a link taking them back to a designated page in the Web site. Task 10 – Answer the study questions in Assignment 2. The study questions direct the user through a series of multiple-choice items in a linear fashion. Correct responses allow the u ser to continue to the next question while incorrect responses require the user to go back to the que sti on and make another attempt to answer.Users cannot go to the next question until the previous q uestion is answered correctly. This task requires navigating through a series of questions with the potential for going back and forth if an answer is wrong. This task determined if users could succe ssfully navigate the Web interface to the study questions Task 11 – When the study questions are all answered, return to Assignment 2. This tas k again measures their ability to use the Web interface to return to a designated page in the Web site. Task 12 – Click Assignment 3. Task 13 – Read the entire case 2 Herpes Simplex.Again, users are required to read c ontent on the Web site but they must use the Web interface design to do it successfully. Task 14 – When you have finished reading Case 2, return to Assignment 3. This task de termined if users could navigate the Web interface to a case study contained within the instructi onal unit and return to a designat ed page in the Web site. Task 15 – Click on Assignment 4. Task 16 – Go to Case 1. Task 17 – Fill in the diagnosis form. This task required students to locate a case, fill in case study information obtained from previous exercises.This task measures the Web interface’s ease of navigation using forms to complete information. Task 18 – Submit the Form. This task demonstrates if the Web interface allows for ea sy form submission upon completion. Task 19 – Return to Assignment 4. User must complete a form by diagnosing the case s tudy patient in this assignment. This task determined if users could easily navigate the case stud y, fill in the appropriate form fields, submit the form, and return to the designated page in the We b site. Task 20 – Click on Assignment 5. Task 21 – Go to the reflection form.This task demonstrates if the Web interface all ows users to navigate to the reflection form. Task 22 – Write your reflections on the unit on the form. A form to reflect on the in structional unit is required for assignment 5. This task demonstrates if users will be able, through thi s Web interface, to make text entries in the appropriate form fields in the reflection form. 13/3/2013 0:50 Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 7/12 http://ojni. org/602/usability. htm Task 23 – Submit the form. The task determined if users could navigate the Web inter face to send the completed reflection form electronically.Task 24 – Return to Assignment 5. Determines if users via the Web interface, can eas ily return to a designated page in the Web site. Task 25 – Go to the course evaluation survey. An evaluation form is included in this instructional unit to determine student attitudes and satisfaction levels with the instructional un it. This task measures if the Web interface allows the user to easily locate a survey on the site. Task 26 – Complete the course evaluation survey. This task determined if users using the Web interface, could easily navigate a form to reply to the questions. Task 27 – Submit the survey.This task measures whether the Web interface allows use rs to easily submit form information electronically. Task 28 – Return to Assignment 5. This task measures the Web interface as it allows u ses to return to designated pages in the Web site with ease. Task 29 – Go to the discussion forum. This task determined if the users could open t he forum and is a test of the Web interface design and its ease of promoting discussion. Task 30 – Make a forum entry indicating that you have finished the usability evaluati on. This task measures the Web interface design’s success with entering comments into a discussion forum.Task 31 – Return to Assignment 5. This task measures the Web interface designs succ ess with returning users to designated pages in the Web site. (N=31 navigational tasks) Non-task performance measur es. Following Nielsen, (2000a) subjectusers were asked t o use the ‘think aloud method’ in conjunction with performance measures. The quantitative measu res to be evaluated included the: 1) amount of time to complete the task list, 2) number of err ors per task, 3) number of users completing the task list successfully in the allotted time, and 4) at titude of users toward the Web interface.In addition to the quantitative measures, the administrato r collected qualitative data during and after the usability evaluation by each user. This UE was designed to measure the ease of undergraduate dental hygiene student user s navigation through the Oral Herpes Simplex and Apthous Ulcers instructional unit prot otype Web interface. Although all task completion or non completion allowed for tests of the in terface, the following three questions focus more directly on navigation of the prototype Web inte rface: Do all the navigational links in this Web site work correctly?Is the or ganization of this Web site consistent? Is there any confusing terminology regarding navigation and organization on this Web site? Results The success or failure on each task performed as well as the qualitative data collect ed from the 13/3/2013 0:50 Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 8/12 http://ojni. org/602/usability. htm post-test interview and the post-test questionnaire are reported. Because the tasks in the UE were short, the quantitative data collected was based on the entire task list and not on each task independently. Users had adequate time to complete the enti re task list.There were 31Website interface navigation tasks completed by three subject/users with a total of seven navigation errors. 1. User #1 took 20 minutes to successfully complete the task list with one Web i nterface navigation error. 2. User #2 took 18 minutes to successfully complete the task list with three Web interface navigation errors. 3. User #3 took 19 minutes to successfully complete the task list with three Web interface navigation errors Task 1 –Users #1 and #2 completed task #1 easily and were able to successfully open t he designated Web site without Web interface navigation error.User #3 entered the Web site address in the search line of the Web browser, an error message was returned by the browser, and then the user entered the Web site address in the address line of the browser and was able to successfully access the home page of the instructional unit via the Web site interface. In this c ase the navigational error relates to lack of knowledge about where to type in a Web address in a Web browser. Task 2 – Read the instructions on the first page of the Web site and click on the lin k that your are directed to go to first.User #1 asked, â€Å"Do I make the decision myself to go to assi gnment 1 or to the course syllabus? † The administrator did not answer this question as the instruct ions on the Web page indicated the first link. Th is error, while not significant since both links ta ke the student to the appropriate Web page to begin the instructional unit as well as the usability evaluat ion, could add user frustration to the mix. Users #2 and #3 use the Web site interface on the first page of the Web site to readily access the needed location.Task 3, 4, and 5 – Click on Assignment 1 and enter your name and email address in the discussion forum. When this task is complete, return to Assignment 1. User #1 was unable to re adily use the Web interface to access the discussion forum. This user consistently scrolled to the bottom of any page before making any choices about where to go next. This scrolling is not consider ed an error in the prototype but could indicate that the Web interface design needs revision to stop this behavior. Once the discussion forum was accessed, this user asked, â€Å"Is this where I go to post my name? The administrator did answer in the affirmative and the user continued with the task. Upon completion of the discussion forum entry user #1 could not navigate back to the desig nated page. The administrator finally intervened and instructed the user to use the â€Å"back† button on the browser. The user then looked for the â€Å"back key† on the keyboard. Further instructi on from the administrator got the user back on task. When user #2 realized that the task involved a discussion forum, the user indicated n o previous 13/3/2013 0:50 Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 9/12 ttp://ojni. org/602/usability. htm experience with discussion forums of any type. Her response was â€Å"Am I being timed, b ecause here is the first problem? † The administrator reassured the user that there is as much ti me as needed to perform the task. Upon submission of the discussion forum entry, user #2 chose the â€Å" back† button on the browser quickly. User #3 got to the discussion forum easily, but then asked, â€Å"Am I the subject? † The administrator informed the user that the responses in the form fields did not matter and that any i nformation could be entered in any field.Upon submission of the form entries, user #3 used the â€Å"back† button on the browser but indicated that she thought only one click of the â€Å"back† button was sufficient. All users successfully completed the task. The Web interface design was not the culprit in these task struggles. Tasks 6, 7, 8, and 9 – Click on Assignment 2. Read the content on Apthous Ulcers. Cl ick on the images to enlarge the view. Return to Assignment 2. Users #1 and #3 did not click o n the images to view a larger version of the image. Both disregarded this portion of the task com pletely.Perhaps the images were large enough for them. User #2 opened the larger view of the images a nd returned to the designated page in the Web site indicating no problem with the Web interface d esign in the area of enlarging images. All users returne d to the designated page in the Web site, but only one user completed the entire task successfully. Tasks 10 and 11 – Answer the study questions in Assignment 2. When the study questio ns are all answered, return to Assignment 2. All users navigated through the study questions ea sily.User #1 expressed embarrassment, because the administrator of the UE is also a faculty member in the Department of Dental Hygiene, and the user did not want the administrator to know if the answers to the study questions were incorrect. The administrator reminded user #1 that the an swers to the questions were not the purpose of this evaluation. The Web site was being evaluated n ot the knowledge of the user. User #1 continued to navigate through the study questions, but indicated distress any time she chose an incorrect response to a study question.It is assumed this frustration related to having to go back and continue to answer until the answer was correct befo re going on. User #2 quickly re alized that the links chosen by user #1 were a different color. Sin ce all users participated in the UE on the same computer, the visited hyperlinks were apparent. U ser #2 easily navigated the questions with much less distress about incorrect responses, because sh e realized that her peers had chosen incorrectly as well. User #3 also noticed the visited hyperlinks and navigated the questions without incident.However, user #3 had a problem choosing answers beca use the hyperlink was on only one letter, the user had trouble positioning the mouse pointer exactly over the single letter link. The user clicked several times before realizing that the link ar ea was very small. This indicates an area of the Web interface design that needs improvement. All users successfully completed these tasks. Tasks 12, 13, and 14 – Click on Assignment 3. Read Case 2. When you have finished re turn to Assignment 3. Users #1 and #3 quickly read the case and returned to the designated We b page.Use r #2 appeared to have accidentally clicked the wrong link and could not locate Cas e 2. The administrator provided instruction because the user seemed frustrated. After the user located the correct page, there was no problem completing the task. Here it is hard to distingui sh if this is a 13/3/2013 0:50 Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 10/12 http://ojni. org/602/usability. htm Web interface design error or not. Tasks 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 – Click on Assignment 4. Fill in the form. Submit the form. Return to Assignment 4. This was the first form in the Web site.User #1 began with â€Å"OK, what is this? † The user had never filled in a form and submitted it through a Web site. Users #2 and #3 both accessed and filled in the required information in the form fields and returned to the designa ted Web page easily. User #1 took more time, but successfully completed the task. Tasks 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 – Click on Assignment 5. Go to the reflection fo rm. Fill in the form. Submit the form. Return to Assignment 5. This was the second experience with the Web interface using a form. All three users accessed, filled in the form, and submitted the form wi thout a problem.Task 25, 26, 27, and 28 – Go to the course evaluation survey. Complete the course eva luation survey. Submit the survey. Return to Assignment 5. Users #1 and #2 had difficulty loc ating the survey link on the page. Once the survey evaluation link was located, no user had any difficulty completing the task. User #3 completed the task easily, but after submission of the form, the user clicked on the â€Å"back† button to return to the designated Web page in the site. As use r #3 clicked on the â€Å"back† button she said, â€Å"Is it erasing the form information if I am going back wi th the back button? The moderator assured her the action of the â€Å"back† button would not erase fo rm input after submission. Task 29, 30, and 31 – Go to the Discussion Forum. Make a forum entry indicating that you have finished the UE. Return to Assignment 5. By task 31, all users were familiar with th e site and had no trouble navigating the discussion forum and returning to the designated page in the W eb site. Upon completion of the task list, each user had the opportunity to comment on the Web site and offer suggestions and opinions. The following were offered:User #1 indicated that she would be more comfortable if the administrator had not bee n watching her progress. She indicated being watched so closely made her very nervous and she th ought the site would have been much easier to navigate on her own. She indicated that she like d the set up of the Web interface and asked if there were going to be other sites like this for her u se in the dental hygiene curriculum. User #2 indicated that she liked the site and thought it was easy to use. User #3 lik ed the site and would like similar sites for other topics in the dental hygiene curriculum.She indi cated that she did not like using the ‘back button’ after all the forms. All three users expressed nervo usness about being watched by the administrator. Discussion A sample of three users completed this UE. Nielsen (2000b) indicates that three to f ive participants in a UE are adequate. Usability problems were identified in some part of nine of the ten primary tasks on the task list. In addition, some of the problems as told by the users, rela ted to: 1) the administrator present during the UE was also a professor in the Department of Dental Hygiene in 3/3/2013 0:50 Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 11/12 http://ojni. org/602/usability. htm which the user is a student, 2) the evaluation was conducted during the summer school session, and 3) all users were also students in the administrator’s class. Users reported being mo re nervous about the site content in the presence of this administrator. In future UE studies th e us ability administrator should be a neutral observer The questionnaire completed by the users following the usability evaluation demonstra ted user satisfaction with the site.Shneiderman (1998) suggests users should give their subje ctive impressions of the Web interface. All but one of the responses indicated that the us ers were satisfied with the site’s navigation and organization. The users indicated that the t erminology used in the site was clear, they were able to complete the assigned tasks easily, the site me t their needs, and the users liked the appearance of the site. The only responses not scored as sati sfactory were related to using the â€Å"back button†. Overall, all three users indicated the ease of na vigating the Web site interface was satisfactory. RecommendationsIt is evident from the results of this UE that Web-based interfaces for instructional delivery should be evaluated for usability problems. Corrections, suggested by the results, to the Oral Herpes Simplex and Apthous Ulcers instructional unit prototype and Web interface should be made and the site re-tested before continuing development of the remaining nine courses in the oral pat hology Web-based instructional unit series. The usability evaluation of the Oral Herpes Simplex and Apthous Ulcers Web-based inst ructional unit prototype resulted in the following recommendations for improvement to the Web site n avigation and organization. . This may be one time when the use of standard link colors should be violated. Students using the same computer to complete an instructional unit would be able to discern the answ ers chosen by the student previously using the computer. Changes in the Web interface design for te sts so that the link color does not change when a user chooses a particular response is recommended. 2. When assigning form submissions, provide a link to take the user back to the designated page in the Web site. The users in this UE did not like using the brow ser’s â€Å"back† button after completing the forms nor following entries to the discussion forum.The Web site interface desig n will be changed so the confirmation pages following discussion forum postings and submission of forms will take the user back to the page accessed immediately prior to the form or discussion f orum. 3. The hyperlinks for the answers to study questions were not large enough. Cli cking on a one letter link made users have a hard time identifying the link. This Web site interfac e design will be corrected so that the entire cell in which the letter choices are located will be the hyperlink. ConclusionsThe UE conducted on the Oral Herpes Simplex and Apthous Ulcers instructional unit pro totype Web design interface proved to be a successful method for the determination of usability problems in a 13/3/2013 0:50 Usability Evaluation of a Web Design Interface 12/12 http://ojni. org/602/usability. htm Web-based instructional delivery method. The users identified usability problems with the Web interface as well as with their own skill or lack of skill with using any browser. Re commendations for revision have been identified by the researcher and will be implemented. Authors NoteShould anyone wish to examine the Website and review the Herpes Simplex and Apthous U lcer instructional unit prototype it can be accessed at http://www. etsu. edu/cpah/dental/dcte760/. References Dumas, J. , & Redish, J. (1999). A Practical Guide to Usability Testing. Portland: In tellect Books. Fichter, D. (2000). Usability Testing Up Front. Online, 24 (1), 79-84. Graham, J. (2000). 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